Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Holdings in Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,745 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,893 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Targa Resources were worth $7,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Targa Resources during the 4th quarter worth about $150,372,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,106,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,235,927,000 after purchasing an additional 633,589 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in Targa Resources by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,841,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $353,469,000 after buying an additional 318,261 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Targa Resources by 75.4% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 604,112 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $89,413,000 after acquiring an additional 259,776 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH grew its position in shares of Targa Resources by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 890,514 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $158,957,000 after acquiring an additional 254,286 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Targa Resources news, insider D. Scott Pryor sold 35,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.30, for a total value of $6,905,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 82,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,206,024.70. This trade represents a 29.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer R. Kneale sold 29,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.42, for a total value of $5,750,856.54. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 227,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,731,100.98. This trade represents a 11.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 115,914 shares of company stock valued at $22,613,288 over the last 90 days. 1.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on TRGP shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $208.00 to $226.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Targa Resources from $185.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Targa Resources from $220.00 to $221.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, US Capital Advisors downgraded Targa Resources from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $206.43.

Targa Resources Trading Down 2.5 %

NYSE TRGP opened at $182.36 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $198.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.78. The company has a market capitalization of $39.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 2.32. Targa Resources Corp. has a 12 month low of $104.89 and a 12 month high of $218.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.05, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The pipeline company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.46). Targa Resources had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 28.67%. The firm had revenue of $4.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.48 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Targa Resources Corp. will post 8.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Targa Resources Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. Targa Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.26%.

Targa Resources Company Profile

Targa Resources Corp., together with its subsidiary, Targa Resources Partners LP, owns, operates, acquires, and develops a portfolio of complementary domestic midstream infrastructure assets in North America. It operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Logistics and Transportation. The company is involved in gathering, compressing, treating, processing, transporting, and selling natural gas; storing, fractionating, treating, transporting, and selling natural gas liquids (NGL) and NGL products, including services to liquefied petroleum gas exporters; and gathering, storing, terminaling, purchasing, and selling crude oil.